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RAF
05-02-2005, 03:35 PM
[B]Meditation calms the mind, lengthens life[/B
study By Charnicia E. Huggins
Mon May 2, 2:45 PM ET

Increasing evidence suggests that transcendental meditation may not only reduce stress, but also may help adults with high blood pressure to live longer, according to a new study.

"There are many non-drug techniques for reducing blood pressure, but none...extend life," study author Dr. Robert H. Schneider, of the Maharishi University of Management in Iowa, told Reuters Health.

He added that the current study shows that "you can live longer with a mind-body intervention."

Transcendental meditation is a technique for calming the body and mind, to allow individuals to enter a state of "restful alertness," in which the body is awake but the mind is not engaged in conscious thought. It is a method of "waking up the body's own self-repair mechanisms," Schneider said.

The new report, published in this month's American Journal of Cardiology, is based on a review of data from two studies that showed that transcendental meditation helped decrease blood pressure among white and African-American adults, respectively. Schneider and his team evaluated the association between the meditation technique and risk of death among the study participants.

The two studies included 202 men and women, about 72 years old on average, who had pre-hypertension or mild hypertension. They were assigned to a transcendental meditation group, or to various comparison groups of other relaxation techniques.

Participants in the two studies were followed for about eight years on average -- a maximum of nearly 19 years -- during which 101 individuals died.

Overall, men and women who practiced transcendental meditation not only had lower blood pressures than those in the other groups, but were also 23 percent less likely to die from any cause, Schneider and his team report. In particular, they were 30 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 49 percent less likely to die from cancer.

The "integrated holistic" transcendental meditation technique does not have any harmful side effects, Schneider said.

Schneider is the director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

SOURCE: American Journal of Cardiology, May 2, 2005.

ghost5
05-07-2005, 04:15 AM
Wow who would have thought that we didn't have to take modern medicines to the point we rattle when we walk to have a good quality of life. :eek: :D

Something modern science is finally coming around to realizing. We don't have to be medicated for every problem that comes up. IMHO, we can look to some of the old ways to help us out in a very modern lifestyle. Meditation being just one of many.

TonyM.
05-07-2005, 07:52 AM
Curious. When I was a correctional officer at the Chittenden Community Correctional Center in Burlington Vt. we had folks come in and teach transcendental meditation to some of the residents. We had the opposite results. Most of the people came away from TM agitated. Most eventually quit.

ghost5
05-09-2005, 03:23 AM
Tony, do you think this could be a result of their state of mind from where they were? Just a thought. If they were being taught but were not in the class for the right reasons or proper state of mind then could it not have had the opposite affect that the teachers were looking for?

Not saying that WAS the reason just thinking about it. I feel it is a loss when someone can't get come away from a class with something that would benefit them in some way.

JohnnyMnemonic
05-09-2005, 07:52 PM
I could see a couple of reasons for agitation.

Forced participation in the class

Being surrounded by violence every minute of every day

The people being in a state of ill health so the meditation wouldn't work

The meditation bringing things to the surface the people want to hide from.



Most people are wild and troublemaking and not listening etc because they are running from some personal demon. Having them take meditation wouldn't do any good until the personal demon was identified and exorcised.

qiphlow
05-13-2005, 05:36 PM
well of course meditation is good for you...
it will de-stress you. stress cases have heart attacks.
it will even you out emotionally. too much emotion (and the resultant chemical release) will damage your cells.
meditate.
feel groovy.
yeah...

jun_erh
05-15-2005, 09:53 AM
I think in wolfe lowenthal's book he talks about teaching tai chi in prison and it also dosn't go well. either ron sieh or WL's book